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Your pony is far too fancy to be compared to Apache. He is lovely -- and at least for that moment in time, he takes a helluva picture.

Another way they are different is that, one thing Apache never did was stop. He was a jumping machine. Now, run away with me, that he did regularly. Looking back, it was sort of sad. Apache and his ilk marked the end of an era. Fortunately, as a kid, I did not realize this, I just loved my pony, he was perfect, iron mouth and all.

But the 50's was right about when Mrs. Waller of Tanracken Farms started importing all of those incredibly fancy English ponies, such as Welland Valley Early Bird, and I believe that Coed Coach Llewydrew (close?) was one of hers, too. She had probably the very first pony catch rider, Meta Boykin, come up from Virginia to live with her and ride these fancy ponies.

Anyhoo, these English ponies had never jumped, because they didn't have to jump in the English show ring. But they were the most gorgeous looking and drop dead best moving things that ever set foot on this side of the Atlantic. And they learned to jump pretty darn quick. Once they did, the fat little back yard types like Apache were an anachronism. Nowadays he would make a great pony jumper. It only took 50 years for his type to have a place in the show ring again.